TRAIN passengers from Oldham and Rochdale have just three words on their lips as they commute to Manchester: "We want Metrolink".

They say they desperately want a new tram route to replace the 15-mile loop line which connects their towns to the city, even though Transport Minister Alistair Darling has shunted the extension plans into the sidings.

Their comments followed news that it could cost about é100m to maintain and upgrade the existing route, the first part of which opened in 1842, even if the new phase of Metrolink does not go ahead.

Passenger Sharon Love, a midwifery student at Salford University who was on the 9.14am train from Oldham Mumps, said: "We've been waiting for Metrolink for so long that it would be crazy if we didn't get it now."

Her views were echoed by other passengers, who felt the Metrolink extension would be more convenient and user friendly than regular train services.

Passenger Joanne O'Connor, a beauty therapist from Shaw, said: "People don't always feel safe on trains, especially at night. If you work late, it's best to go home in your car because you worry that you'll be stranded waiting for a train at a station. Metrolink would be much better."

Kit Wan, a software engineer from Royton, said: "I use the train every day, but it would be nice to get Metrolink instead. So much money has been spent on it already that it needs to go ahead."

And Catherine Brown from Rochdale, who was taking her grandaughter on a day trip, said: "The Metrolink would be better because it's more convenient. You can get on and off almost at your doorstep."

Cuttings

Geoff Inskip, deputy director general of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority, told a meeting of MPs, councillors and business leaders Rochdale on Monday that it would cost an estimated é60m to upgrade the existing rail loop line and é5m a year to maintain.

It would therefore cost é100m over the next decade even if Metrolink was abandoned.

Officers are now looking at ways of cutting the Metrolink extension costs in a bid to convince the government. MPs are getting ready to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown next month.

The passengers' body, Support The Oldham and Rochdale to Manchester line (STORM) says work will soon need to be carried out on the track, signals, and cuttings along the route.

Secretary Peter Dawson said: "The line is being run safely and trains are running about as well as they ever have, but essential maintenance work would need to be carried out in the years to come.

"The signaling system is outdated and quite a lot of sleepers might need to be replaced. Work might also need to be done on some of the cuttings.

"Ten years can creep up on you quite quickly."

Campaigners in Oldham and Rochdale, and in Ashton-under-Lyne and South Manchester, which were also set to become destinations on the Metrolink map, are urging businesses to write protest letters to their MPs about the secretary of state's announcement.

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